THE 54 - 58 SERIES
I work on and offer advise on two types of METZ units, the great 54-58 series and the long living Metz 45's. Unfortunately, if you purchased a 70-60-76 model I will not be able to help you. Units with split controllers are not easily altered and economically not sound because of low volume.
The manufacturer saw fit to load them with electronics going against Spock's Logical Rule of Electronic Preservation. At the High Klingon conference of 2056, Spock said, "The more crap you put in a box, the apt it is for the crap to not work". The Klingons responded heartily by throwing all their captives off the thirty-eighth floor of the Klingon conference center thus taking prisoners off the negotiation list. Easy solution.
They are and have been very METZ proprietary. Sorry, it's their way of being protective of their product and extra accessories, a by product of the Teutonic way of thinking in product development, protection, out of the box thinking and the surge to the wallet. To avoid a lengthy conversation. The answer is still no, I will and cannot work on the 70-60-76 models. The METZ 45 Solution has their own page in the drop down.
NEW DO IT YOURSELF PACK
I did upgrade the METZ 45's battery combo and it's slick. See the plans on the next page. I offer support, information and in some cases condolences for the user who thought he stole something on eBay or at a garage sale and wants to raise the TITANIC. Many of the units I saw from eBay lacked some form of function and A.G.E. deprivation.
I LOVE THE METZ 58 SERIES:
After Nikon went to the heat sensitive 900 series I am suddenly seeing a lot of Metz 58's, not only as the strobe of choice because METZ is known for a great product but because it doesn't have those problems the Nikon 900 does. The 58 does have some great features. I like the upgrade program via the web through a built in USB port so you do not have to send in the flash or worse use the camera as the transmitter! Really, but METZ means better whiter light, tired of those color cast shots?
Due to its high GN of 58 at ISO 100/21° and 105mm focal length, the 58 AF-1 digital is not only especially powerful, but also can be used for indirect flash lighting to great effect.
NEW FEATURES
For the first time Metz integrated a reflector card that can be flipped open into its vertically tilting and horizontally swiveling reflector. In addition, the Bounce diffuser 54-23 is available as an optional accessory.
Using the integrated secondary reflector, additional brilliance can be achieved with this flash technology in close-up areas. The integrated slave trigger unit allows the 58 AF-1 to be implemented separately.
An additional plus for all those who want to use the 58 AF-1 digital apart from the camera: the new flash can be used wirelessly with the Canon E-TTL remote system and the Nikon i-TTL remote system, thanks to the integrated slave trigger unit.
I am also a fan of the Metz color which I think is superior to the others on the market. If you have a Black Box, or Tuxedo and are using the SB-800, the cable with no alteration is the same for the METZ 58. You already have the cables and the box to run the Metz 58 on. It's a great strobe. I love the Metz professional 54-58 series and nothing more has to be said.
STANDARD FEATURES
Automatic Mode - A photo sensor acuurately and consistently measures the light reflected by the subject and ends the light output as soon as the subject has been correctly lit.
AF Flash Measurement - Auto focus assist beam integrated in the flash unit makes automatic focus adjustment with AF-SLR cameras possible.
Tilt reflector - Can be adjusted vertically from -7 to 90 degrees allowing for indirect flash lighting.
Rear Sync - Synchronization on the 2nd shutter curtain for natural blur effects.
Partial Light Mode - For reduced light output or for particular flash durations.
Secondary Reflector - To fill-in the shadows created when using indirect flash.
Power Zoom - Automatic adjustment of the flash reflector to the corresponding lens focal length.
Modeling Light - To judge the illumination prior to exposure.
Swivel Reflector - Can be adjusted horizontally allowing for indirect flash lighting.
Wireless TTL - Can be used as a wireless slave or Master flash within the Canon wireless digital TTL system.
USB Connection - Firmware updates can be made by users to keep flashes current with the latest camera metering systems.
Digital Compatibility - It is compatible with the most current digital metering systems from the top camera manufacturers, including iTTL from Nikon and e-TTL 1 & 2 from Canon.
LCD Display - Easy to read, backlit display.
I AM WORKING ON THE METZ 50